Timesplitters: Rewind's First Video Shows Off Training Ground Map

Not too long ago we let gamers know about the fan-made redo of the multiplayer and arcade challenge mode of the Timesplitters games called Timesplitters: Rewind. Well, the modding community currently hard at work on the fan-made redo using the CryEngine 3 SDK, has released the first video of the progress currently being made on the multiplayer project, and you can check out how the Training Grounds looks from Timesplitters 3: Future Perfect (although it should be noted that Training Ground was originally from Timesplitters 2 but the map in Rewind is based on the map from Timesplitters 3).

The thing that makes Rewind so amazing is that the modders actually received the blessings from Crytek to use assets and material from the Timesplitters games (yes, Crytek has the licensed property after Free Radical dissolved and were transformed into Crytek UK.)

According to former Free Radical members, the team was actually doing what the modders are doing now, and they were hard at work on an HD redo of Timesplitters 2 as the doors were being shuttered on the studio. That's not to mention that the team was also working on Star Wars: Battlefront 3 when they were hit with the shutdown hammer.

Given all the stop and go development progress of Timesplitters, including the Facebook poll to gauge interest in a possible Timesplitters 4, it's good to see that the community is stepping up to the plate taking over where politics and the shark-infested waters of the corporate gaming world have prevented some IPs from being re-released or re-made for public consumption.

As showcased in the video, the map still has a ways to go before being completed but the basic geometry is in place and hopefully the flow of the map and gameplay will match what gamers grew to know and love about Timesplitters.

Some gamers have questioned if Rewind will sport jumping, which is a good question considering that the lack of jumping really changed the flow and feel of how players could navigate, engage in PVP or tactically address some of the game modes like capture the case or virus mode. Adding a jump could either work out well or screw up some of the balance that made Timesplitters fun to begin with. Such is the life of modders trying to please nostalgic gamers looking to play old content with new technology.

We'll keep you posted when actual gameplay footage is finally released and I'm sure gamers can't wait to see how well they tackle the fast and quirky gameplay of Timesplitters 2 and Timesplitters 3 in one game. Boy, I would not want to see what all their inbox, containing all sorts of conflicting e-mails from various gamers asking to keep the game like Timesplitters 2 while others request to keep the game like Timesplitters 3.